Social Security

A Social Security number
is something you need if
you plan to work in the U.S.

Your employer, on or off campus, needs to report your wages to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. To do that, your employer needs your Social Security number—a number assigned to you by the U.S. Social Security Administration that is unique to you.

This is not a USCIS requirement. So you only need a Social Security number if you plan to have a job while you are here.

Can you begin working before you get your Social Security number? Yes. Just remember to ask for an official receipt (Form SSA-5028) from the Social Security office when you submit your application. With this receipt, your employer can begin withholding payroll taxes from your wages. If necessary, ask the International Student Services office for a guideline that you can give your employer, or visit the Resources area on this website for a fact sheet.

To obtain a Social Security number:

1. First obtain necessary documentation from the International Student Services (ISS) office.
1. Download an ISS Request Form and Employment Verification Form (if your employer is at UMass Boston) or obtain the forms from the ISS office.
2. Take the Employment Verification Form to your UMass Boston employer to be filled out, signed, and dated. If your employer is other than UMass Boston, ask for a signed, dated letter verifying your employment on company letterhead.
3. Submit the following to the ISS office:
• ISS Request Form
• Employment Verification Form or employer’s signed verification letter attached to the back of the request form
• your UMass Boston I-20
4. The ISS office will issue you an authorization letter verifying your student status.
2. Assemble the documentation you will need, all in their original form.
1. Proofs of identity and visa status
• passport with visa
• I-94 card (Arrival/Departure Record)
• UMass Boston I-20
• letter from ISS verifying your student status
2. Work authorization
• EAD card (I-766 or I-688B), if you are authorized to work off-campus
• the employment page of your I-20, completed and signed by the ISS advisor who is the designated school official (DSO), if you are authorized for Curricular Practical Training
• Eauthorization letter from the ISS office describing the work you will be doing, and identifying your employer (See 1.D.)
3. Take the documents in #2 above to the Social Security office most convenient to you. The ISS office will give you a list of local Social Security offices.
4. Don’t forget to ask for a receipt (Form SSA-5028) so that you can begin working before you receive your Social Security number.